Anime NYC did an excellent job of running a tight ship appropriate to a first-year convention. They had enough content to get people in the door but not so much that anything felt empty. That had its benefits and flaws. It was very nice to see all the panels and events getting a healthy attendance. At the same time, Anime NYC had only 3 panels rooms and the main events hall. There feels far more sparse in comparison to Otakon and AnimeNEXT which are the bigger northeast anime conventions known for their panel content. Even small conventions like Castle Point Anime Convention and Genericonhave a larger amount of paneling. Considering how often we state that New York City is a wheat thresher of anime conventions it makes sense for Anime NYC to be a bit conservative with their debut schedule. It just meant that there were fewer panels than we might normally be used to.

One odd thing that broke the accepted norms more than anything else: 45-minute panels. They had the very useful 15-minute buffers between panels that a lot of the conventions do but 1-hour panels are sort of the unwritten standard. So much so that I know Kate and I always plan our panels to be an hour-long by default. I don’t remember any panels being super rushed so it did not seem to be a major problem. I think it was helped by the fact that I went to a lot of industry panels at Anime NYC and those tend to be highly modular. If you cut 15 minutes off of one of them you just lose some Q&A time.

I went to several industry panels but I’m not going to talk about most of them. Most of the important information out of them is available from any good anime new site. I have two exceptions to that rule. One is mostly just because it was so odd and the other because it is Type-Moon related.

The first AnimeNYC struck a good balance of panels for the number of attendees. There was always something to see, but I didn’t feel like I was constantly missing out.

While there were less than usual there were still some great fan panels at the convention. As a regular panelist, I always try to patronize my what colleagues are doing. Plus they are the panels that don’t get covered by the major press outlets but often have very interesting information.

The most surprising fan panel was probably When Gundam Came to Hollywood. Tom Aznable started the panel stating that this was not about G-Saviour as that what everyone, including me, would assume this would be about. The panel is actually about the far less known attempt to make an American Gundam movie back in 1983. G-Saviour has become a minor memetic train wreck but this attempt at a Gundam film has largely been forgotten by history.

It appears that at one point Robert Altman tried to make a Gundam film. It obviously feels as though he had put in a decent amount of work into the project. Tom was able to dig up parts of the script and storyboards through some pretty dedicated amounts of research. He went as far as to actually track down some of the key players in the film’s production and get some previously unseen information and materials from them. That is quite frankly amazing.

The most interesting details were what exactly they wanted to change and what they kept the same. Clearly, the original Gundam story would be nearly impossible to convert into a single movie without some major changes to the end product becomes a mixture of Gundam 0079, The Seven Samurai, and Logan’s Run. It is hard to tell if it would have been awesome or horrible but it would have definitely been unique. Tom also did an article about the movie but the panel has some material, not in the written version and vice versa.

I saw The Women of Mobile Suit Gundam panel several years ago and gave it a very mixed review. The first time I saw the panel I was a little surprised that it was only talking about the women of the original Gundam TV series. Overall that is just a matter of me not reading the panel description. The actual problem was the panel really focused hard on Fraw Bow and totally disregarded Lalah Sune. This time I felt he had tinkered with the structure of the panel to a greater extent. I think all the women of the show were given a good deal more thought. It did a good job of highlighting why many of them are simultaneous wonder and horrible characters. But that is the nature of Tomino’s “unique” approach to characterization.

The gentleman running the panel said he wanted to tackle the women of Zeta Gundam next time. That is a project because while Zeta has some fantastic women it also has some of the flat-out worst. Not the worst female Gundam character Tomino made. Quess Paraya wins that title without a contest but it is still a fascinating minefield.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt has been gaining in momentum so it was exciting to have some of the team at AnimeNYC including the man behind the phenomenal music of the series, Naruyoshi Kikuchi.

There was a large panel full of both Japanese and American staff. The first few minutes was taken up by everyone gushing about just how much they love Gundam Thunderbolt. They even polled the audience to see if it was anyone’s absolute favorite Gundam series, as it was for some of those on the panel.

Discussion about the diversity of the characters came up. This led to some talk about the voice actor casting in English and trying to match that diversity. They also talked about the difficult of finding voice talent who had never played a major Gundam character previously as that was one of their goals.

Mr. Kukuchi talked about the manga which I haven’t had a chance to read yet. The big takeaway was Io’s selection of jazz music is very calming in the manga, a major contrast to the anime version which is full of energy. It really highlighted how music manga get a second life in anime once sound is there.

For the more musically inclined there was also the Beyond Bebop: Japanese Jazz panel. This panel was PACKED. I have to wonder how many people merely showed up because Cowboy Bebop was in the title. Truth be told there was very little Cowboy Bebop in the panel. That said it was still a panel appropriate for an anime convention as it focused exclusively on Japanese jazz which made it a great cultural lesson.

Since jazz is one of the musical classifications that is actually an umbrella for dozens of smaller categories so there is a good deal variety so has a nice bit of variety. Also, the panelists tried to pick Japanese Jazz pieces that were more uniquely Japanese alongside more traditional American forms.

I think the part where this panel succeeded over the music of Jojo’s panel I saw a while back is that this panel let the music be the start of the panel. The panelists gave each artist and their work some context and then let the piece breath without trying to talk too much over it. The Jojo’s panel tried to fit the maxim amount of music and information at the same time but they clashed so much it was a detriment to both halves of the panel. This jazz panel gave just enough history so that the music has context but let the songs themselves tell everything else.

VIZ and Tatsunoko’s Infini T Force panel was an unexpected treat. This being a VIZ panel, it was a little canned but still had some cool information about this recent CG anime series.

First, there was a big push to remind everyone at the beginning of where you can watch this series online, for free, legally so that was smart. Maybe because I hadn’t really looked into it yet, but I honestly didn’t know it was streaming on VIZ’s site.

The panel highlighted Tatsunoko’s history of hero characters and their place at the forefront of animation. We got a little back story on each of the series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Neo-Human Casshan, Hurricane Polymar, and Space Knight Tekkaman whose heroes all crossover in Inifini T Force.

In this new production, Oh! Great (of Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge fame) did the civilian character designs while Keiichi Sato (most well-known for Big O designs) took on the hero armor designs. Which adds up to saying the character designs are pretty cool.

The panel also featured a clip from what at the time was the latest episode and a teaser for the upcoming movie which ended with the exciting expectation that Joe from Gatchaman was going to show up.

There was a little trivia and prizes given away including buttons, special totes from Tatsunoko’s anniversary celebration, and a signed poster.

I have to mention how odd the What is HIDIVE? panel was. As far as I can tell they just played an episode of Hozuki’s Coolheadedness and Himouto! Umaru-chan and that is that. I’m guessing that the person who was supposed to run the panel was unable to be there so they just decided to play random shows they owned. The problem is I’m currently on the fence about getting a HIDIVE subscription. While I already have a bunch of streaming subscriptions which makes me hesitant to get another their recent nichemecha titles and Legend of the Galactic Heroes has tempted me. They could have helped sell me on the service but instead, I just saw parts of two random episode of shows that also are on Crunchyroll. They should have at least played some episodes of series that were unique to their service.

If the HIDIVE representative could not show up and a staff member just played some random episodes so there was at least something going on in the room then I withdraw my criticism.

I being me had to attend the Fate/Grand Order Localization Panel. It was mostly an announcements panel and as I stated before you can just look up that info if you need it. It was interesting to see that most of the rage over the initial translation of the game has died down. When Grand Order was initially released in English the transitional was a bit sloppy and people were very upset. Apparently the backlash along with the game doing quite well-meant that they went back and cleaned up their previous work and have been a bit more diligent going forward. I guess that is what is being one of the most profitable free to play games will get you.

I attended the Idolish 7 screening as my big event on Saturday. As I’ve said elsewhere, here is what I knew about Idolish 7 before going to this panel, 1) The character designs were done by Arina Tanemura, and 2) It was all over the doujinshi stores when I visited Japan last year.

Idols aren’t really a big thing for me, despite how much I loved the first season of Uta no Prince-sama Maji LOVE 1000%. Still, this seemed like a good opportunity to check out a new show and probably the best bet for another idol show I might enjoy.

Turns out I was right, I found Idolish 7 very entertaining. It follows new manager Tsumugi who is tasked with helping this new group of idols make their debut. The guys have just met, except the two brothers, and each has a different reason for being there. So part friendships story, part idol story. I thought Mitsuki’s story was the most compelling and look forward to seeing where it leads.

After the panel was a Q&A with the director and producer. This part of the panel really showed how many people in the audience were already fans of the franchise as people asked very specific questions. I asked whether there would be any original songs in the anime considering there are already CDs and the game. They said it was “a secret,” which seems to imply there will be some original music but we’ll just have to wait and see.

I will end this post with the first event I attended at the convention. I was a panelist on the Robot Fight Club: Debates in Giant Robots panel with Patz Prime, Tom Aznable, Hazukari, and Dave Cabrera. Patz has run this panel before. I have actually been on this panel before. The thing is he tries to vary the line up of questions to the participants each time he runs it. Therefore like an old-school science fiction convention panel.

I admit that panels like this can be very bad. So far I think Patz has done well in selecting the panelist and questions but these panels by their very nature can be insanely variable in quality. The wrong combination of participants and questions can just be dreadful but when the stars align you can get some amazing and thought-provoking conversations. I think the questions about “Is Evangelion still relevant?” and “Is there a robot show for everyone?” sparked the most engaging conversations.

I do think the con could use more fan panels to balance with the industry run ones, but I also don’t think there needs to be more panel rooms just yet. Plus, more rooms would necessitate moving some of them away from the main hall area.

I do wonder if they will increase the number of panels next year. I can’t see fan panels being a very expensive part of the con to increase in size outside of the cost of additional space. I’m hoping their success this year will greatly increase the demand for additional content as well as people to provide it. I would love to see if they could expand the number of panel rooms while still having the free-flowing dynamic they had with the Expo Hall as well. That would be the best of both worlds.

Filed under: Conventions, Events]]>https://reversethieves.com/2017/12/11/anime-nyc-2017-panels/feed/0reversethieveshisui_icon_4040_roundnarutaki_icon_4040_roundhisui_icon_4040_roundnarutaki_icon_4040_roundhisui_icon_4040_roundnarutaki_icon_4040_roundhisui_icon_4040_roundnarutaki_icon_4040_roundhisui_icon_4040_roundnarutaki_icon_4040_roundhisui_icon_4040_roundAll Points Bulletin: Classic Wyld Stallyns Albumshttps://reversethieves.com/2017/12/10/all-points-bulletin-classic-wyld-stallyns-albums/
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Fast Food For Life
Can you earn a special card that lets you eat for free at McDonald’s or Burger King?

Trust, Who Do Ya?
The dynamics of games losing player trust while still being profitable in the short-term.

Kate’s picks:

Support Puerto Rico and Comic Artists
This newly announced comic anthology will help bring hurricane relief to Puerto Rico while also highlighting talented Puerto Rican artists. It will be in comic stores in March 2018.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

2 New Anime
There will be 2 New Years shorts to close out 2017. The first is Fate/Grand Order Moonlight/Lostroom and the other is based around Fate/School Life. One of these is far more surprising than the other.

There were more than twice the amount of manga licensed compared to anime this year. A whopping 240+ manga licenses were announced! That is surprising since the amount of titles picked up in 2016 had dropped from 2015 and were hovering closer to the low-100s. Even more shocking was that more than 70 of the 2017 titles were licensed by Seven Seas alone.

Anime licenses were hovering around 100 which is a little lower than last year. The big takeaway from this year was how little Funimation licensed with a mere 12 titles. Just 4 Aniplex licenses and none from Pony Canyon as well. Light novel licenses were about the same. And crowdfunding campaigns continued to increase but more on the creation side rather than the licensing side.

As a reminder, this list does not include streaming-only anime and manga. And as always, let us know if we missed anything.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

The Line-Up is a monthly rundown of new anime, manga, novel, and artbook licenses for the U.S. It also lists new streaming/broadcasting announcements and posted crowdfunding projects available to U.S. residents. And finally, it includes anime/manga projects and live-action anime/manga adaptation announcements from Japan.

NYC is like a famous wild west gunslinger when it comes to anime conventions. Everyone knows if they can beat the top dog they are guaranteed to be famous. So many organizations have challenged the Jesse James of cities and just as many have been defeated. Big Apple Anime Fest, New York Anime Festival, and Waku Waku NYC all sleep in anime convention Boot Hill but the dream still lives on for others. Many fans continue to hope that New York City could have regularly occurring anime centered convention. While New York Comic Con often has an anime and manga guest or two alongside some anime panels it is merely a bit of spice in a much larger hodgepodge. Despite some unique difficulties, NYC would make the perfect location for an anime convention. The trick is figuring out how to make it work.

Anime NYC is the latest event to try to make its claim in the Big Apple. It has a decent pedigree which makes it a strong contender. Much of the staff that worked on the convention were former staff from New York Comic Con so they have a good idea of how to run a nerdy event in the city. I mentioned they have a good bunch of postmortems to see what has and has not worked before now. Plus the area around the Jacob Javits is slowly getting more accessible.

In its first year, AnimeNYC welcomed over 20,000 fans. That was an incredible feat for a first-year con. The experienced showrunners correctly predicted that an anime-focused con was still wanted here in the New York City. And plans are already underway for 2018.

The first thing that stands out about the convention was their use of the Jacob Javits. As it was a first-year anime event there was no way they were going to be able to use the whole convention center. They mostly used the southern half of the convention center but even then it was not even all of that. Since they consolidated a lot of the normal parts of a convention I know we were worried that having the Expo Hall right next to the panel rooms sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. I have been to conventions where its hard to hear the panels with the constant din of the dealer’s room drowning everything out. Thankfully a mixture of distance between the Expo Hall and the panels combined with goof soundproof walls made it that both parts of the convention could easily coexist despite being side by side. In fact, I know a lot of people I talked to liked the fact that they could easily go back and forth between two major parts of the convention effortlessly. Since many of the people we are friends with are big fans of panels it is very convenient not to have the trek all around the event space to attend programming.

The artist alley and main events hall were on separate levels that required their own bag checks but they were fairly easy to pass through. The Artist Alley was helped by its wonderful space. The little walk to get there was a small price to pay for space and superior lighting. I only went to main events once a day so it was never a major hassle to go back and forth from there. It also let the concerts there has their own space free from everything else. This set up would not work for other conventions. Most other cons have more panels, therefore, this setup would be unfeasible but it really worked for an event of Anime NYC’s size.

If there were any other events going on that weekend I never saw hide nor hair of them. Apparently, there was a Pri-Med even on Friday but I only know that because I looked it up when I was writing this post.

Having been at the same convention center for NYCC just a month and a half earlier, it was a blessing to see it this time with so much space to move around. I never waited more than a moment at bag check, and I had no trouble attending the panels and events I wanted to see despite never lining up. AnimeNYC used perhaps a quarter of the con center with the exhibitors hall and panels on the street-level floor, a main event stage and queue area on the lower level, and the artist alley in the upper most hall. And for the most part, they used it well. I think the biggest oddities were having to go in and out of bag checks, multiple times a day since each section had its own security checkpoint.

I never got in the early morning line to enter the convention so perhaps that showed it to be crowded, but you wouldn’t have felt that just walking around. The space was well-suited to the heaps of fans who entered its doors. AnimeNYC had a lively feeling throughout the weekend.

I have to admit I enjoyed all the Fate/Grand Order material that was adorned around the convention. I remember when Type-Moon fandom was that odd little niche based on eroge that most people we barely aware of. At this point, Type-Moon is almost like Naruto. You are forced to have an opinion on it because it is so omnipresent in the greater anime and manga fandom. Thankfully for me, that means I saw a good deal of Fate cosplay every day. While there was the standard amount of Saber and Gilgamesh cosplay I loved to see more obscure cosplay like Medjed Nitocris and Ishtar.

The exhibitors hall had big booths from most of the major anime and manga companies. Yen Press, Crunchyroll, Bandai, and Aniplex all had impressive looking setups. There was the usual smattering of dealers selling anime, manga, t-shirts, and merchandise. Arcade and tabletop games had plenty of people playing all weekend, too.

More notable was the section that had festival masks and other cultural items imported from Japan, plus food which weren’t necessarily all anime related. The other standout in the exhibitor’s hall was the Noir Caesar Entertainment booth. I’d never heard of this group but they create comics and animation, plus have a blog. One video they were showing had well-done animated fights that were definitely inspired by Naruto.

I think everyone agreed that having the panel rooms visible from the exhibitors section was a great setup. It made getting to a panel very quick and it was easy to assess if you needed to line up for something. It also facilitated being able to pop in a panel at random without too much commitment since the rooms were in the heart of the convention action. And panel attendance were definitely high judging from the ones I went to.

The main stage was a bit of a trek compared to the rest of the sections. I hope they can bring it a little closer next year. It still had good attendance but I think it could have been better. This was also a case where they could have had big signs and advertising at the convention about who would be at the main stage.

I noticed one random thing in the Exhibitor’s Hall. The rise of grab bags have slowly but surely went from something you would see randomly at a few booths to a near-ubiquitous phenomenon on the floor to the point where even major companies have some sort of grab bag. There is one dealer now that has nothing but grab bags in well-designed boxes. So they have Dr. Who merchandise in TARDIS boxes or Naruto items in a box with the symbol for the Hidden Leaf Village on them. It is a brilliant scheme when you get right down to it. You take a bunch of merchandise you can’t normally sell and throw it into a box. People wind up buying things they would never normally touch with a ten-foot pole with the dream of getting some amazing deals. It is like the real-life version of Loot Crate.

Kate and I even got a bit of the old hard sell for the grab bags at the Crunchyroll booth. Their whole shtick was the fact that some of the bags had golden tickets that were gift certificates. So Crunchyroll added gacha loot boxes to the Loot Crate formula. That is almost admirably sinister.

Overall I am not condemning or praising this practice. I just wanted to point out how big it has gotten.

I was quite excited, but a little cautious going into this convention. I do so little anime and manga stuff at New York Comic Con that it was nice to have an anime-centric show so close to home again. At the same time, we’ve seen in the past how short-lived some of these cons can be. It feels like AnimeNYC got it right and I hope it sticks around for many years to come.

It was not soon after Anime NYC ended that they were already announcing when it would take place again in 2018. Considering the general level of activity at the convention it seems fairly likely that Anime NYC hit the goals they wanted in terms of attendance. I always noticed a steady stream of people in Artist Alley and the Expo Hall. All but two of the panels I attended were at least 80% full. The events were all packed with only a few free seats.

One of the best compliments I could pay to Anime NYC is that they seemed to have an excellent grasp on how much room they needed. They had enough room that it never felt like you were an extra in Soylent Green but everything felt like it was constantly busy. You have enough room to breath so the convention never felt overwhelming but there was enough to do that it never felt like a relaxacon. That takes a precision amount of planning (and a bit of luck) to get that happy medium.

If anything my major complaint was I wish there were more panels. I know that the current layout had some major benefits but the second set of panel room would have made me much happier. Hopefully, that is something that can come down the line but as it stands this is not an event that can compete with Otakon or AnimeNEXT when it comes to fan paneling.

Does that mean ten years down the line Anime NYC will still be running? I can’t say that for sure. There are too many factors that could doom this convention that involves behind the scenes details on or are far too unpredictable for anyone involved. That said it does seem like a convention that might be able to go the distance. I definitely see Anime NYC running for the next two or three years and more importantly, it just might have what it takes it thrive in the Big Apple.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

Sex and Heaven’s Feel
ANN has an interview with Tomonori Sudou and Noriko Shitaya after the US premiere of the first Heaven’s Feel movie.

AnimeNYC hosted more than 200 artists in the alley for its first year. Instead of a dark underground hall or the windowless exhibitors section, artist alley was in the prime spot of the convention center. The upper floor of the Javits Center is by far the nicest with carpet and surrounded by windows letting in plenty of light. It’s an area that makes you want to linger which is great for artists and attendees alike.

I’ve noticed a growing number of artists selling their original drawings, not just a print of them. And this was beyond doing commissions, and I saw this with fan art as well as original works. Seeing the real lines on paper was very exciting. I even picked up a tiny Lucina from Fire Emblem sketch from one such artist @nightynightowl.

As I noted at Otakon this year, the amount of enamel pins has exploded. This seemed to be even more pronounced at AnimeNYC. What I found really interesting was the majority of enamel pins are not fanart.

Luckily at AnimeNYC, the number of booths selling buttons was high as well. I saw regular ole buttons as well as more expensive, shaped ones, giant-sized ones, and even shiny and glittery ones! I picked up a basic, but very well-designed, Sailor Senshi button from Sticks and Spells.

Printed t- and sweatshirts are growing in popularity. There were some great designs displayed. Some artist that stood out to me were Jisu Art and Auto Loot. This was in addition to the now staple printed items like lanyards and pencil and coin bags. I also saw a couple of people selling silkscreened prints and totes. I hope this becomes a trend!

I saw some serious nostalgia works all over the alley this year. I’d seen The Last Unicorn in past alleys, but things like The Secret of NIHM, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and The Road to El Dorado were very unusual finds. I also saw a couple of people with Moomin works which I think was a first, despite its popularity the world over.

Anime nostalgia was there too with Sailor Moon and plenty of Yu-Gi-Oh! around, perhaps thanks to the Twitch marathon. But I saw other seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh!, too.

Popular titles like My Hero Academia, Pokemon, Overwatch, and Final Fantasy were in abundance. The caliber of Pokemon has increased to the point at which I’m seriously considering playing a game just so I can buy some of these amazing pieces.

I saw a lot of people selling their own comics, fan comics, and sketchbooks alongside the prints that are always for sale. Some of these were extremely well-crafted.

Overall, the caliber of artists and the quality of design has been steadily growing in alleys all over. It was especially nice to see how so many artists have really found their style and voice in original and fanart alike. I felt that acutely at AnimeNYC, and it made the artist alley the highlight of the convention.

Magic can be a tricky element to add to any series. The main problem with magic is that it is a powerful spice that can easily ruin a dish if it added without careful thought. The easy way to ruin the story is to just throw a ton of magic into a series without any careful measurement.

If you just dump MAGIC into a story it can easily unbalance it. There are entertaining stories to be told about what people do with nearly unlimited power but they have to be carefully constructed. If you just add such power to a normal story it can make everything feel arbitrary. When there is no structure to the magic in a series it can feel that obstacles are overcome and conflicts are resolved in a willy-nilly fashion or by deus ex machina. Challenges only exist until the story feels like they need to be removed. It can feel that progress is never earned since the characters can do anything whenever they need to since there are no real well-defined constraints on their powers. Also, characters can feel wildly unbalanced. They might seem untouchable demigods at some points and then flimsy humans then next minute with their exact power merely dictated by whim.

Even series that are fairly strong about balancing magic can fall into this trap. Read any nitpicky review of a Harry Potter story and it will be filled with comments about why did character X not use spell Y at point Z. While most of the time a healthy amount of suspension of disbelief inherent in the genre will smooth things over it is not that hard to spend that goodwill in a more sloppily written story.

The way to overcome this problem is to add restraints to the magic in a story. If magic has boundaries and limits then the more standard story progression can take place. But the problem is that this can also kill the power of magic in a story if it is too harshly applied. I love highly detailed and well-defined magic systems. The problem is these can easily take the magic out of magic for many readers. It can make magic feel like science with an occult paint job. A rigidly defined magic system can avoid the inconsistent feeling of magic but destroy the very essence of its appeal.

The other major way to limit magic is to set things in a low magic world where only a handful of people can use magic and therefore you keep it out of the hands of anyone but secondary characters. Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are prime examples of this. The major drawback is that it means you can’t have your protagonist be a magic user which can severely limit your options. Also, you still get Gandalf and the Eagles problems but they are at least contained to side characters.

But these are hardly the only ways of limiting magic for better storytelling. In fact, different solutions to this problem can be the seed for a story in of itself. Atelier of Witch Hat is a great example of this. In the world of the manga magic is the nearly limitless power but it is the witches who practice the craft who limit how it is used. All the constraints on magic are self-imposed by the practitioners. It combines several of the above methods into one which transforms the idea into its own device letting the manga tell a story around the concept.

Coco has dreamed of being a witch since she was very young but magic can only be performed by those who were innately born with the ability to be spellcasters. If fact non-witches cannot even see what happens when a spell is cast. When Coco is able to see a spell being cast by a witch visiting her small town she discovers there is more to magic than most people know.

As my intro made clear magic is an insanely powerful force. The world of Atelier of Witch Hat and the witches in it are all too aware of that fact. Their world was devastated by constant wars and disasters by the mere virtue of letting everyone have access to magical power. It got so bad that a small cabal of witches got to together to erase the memory of magic from everyone else so that only a select few could continue to use magic and with severe restrictions. Now by a self-imposed ban witches cannot use magic on human directly. That includes witches casting spells on themselves. The only exception is memory erasing magic on anyone outside of the conspiracy that discovers the truth. There is also a group of rebel witches who wish to abolish the current system but they are currently purposely kept in the shadows of the narrative at this point.

It is this self-imposed ban that helps restrict the magic of the series. By preventing the witches of the series from casting magic on themselves it helps manage the abilities of the characters within more manageable limits. At the same time being a voluntary ban it still lets those sorts of spells be used but only in key moments giving magic a full range of powered that is restricted for a legitimate storytelling reason. It also expands the setting while letting the story play with some interesting philosophical and sociological ideas. It also helps sets the world apart from a more generic fantasy setting.

The artwork is worth pointing out for its detailed storybook feeling. It is rather beautiful and adds to the setting at the same time. It also does something that The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Kino’s Journey do so well. They create bright colorfully fantastic worlds filled with danger and darkness. They create bewitching worlds of splendor that capture the majesty and appeal of magic while still having a menacing presence in the background that works as a wonderful contrast to the visuals. It gives a very different feel than an oppressive and dark motif would. While the darker and outwardly cray design would be instantly more effective you get more nuance from a dazzling world that you know in the back of your head is deadly.

But this is not a completely dreary magical political drama. The main center of the story is Coco learning to be a witch. She has an almost Yotsuba like glee in learning about magic which is infectious. She might be trying to uncurse her mother, the locus of a shadow war of witches, and fighting against ingrained prejudices but her exuberance for the wonders of magic counterbalance the underlying sinister undercurrent in a way that enhances both feelings. She really helps their series feel hopeful despite the fact that it could otherwise be rather depressing.

Atelier of Witch Hat is still a fairly new series but I think the mixture of an interesting approach to magic, the evocative art style, and the strong mixture of light and darkness all make a very vibrant series that has a strong draw into 20vast and exciting world.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

Inside the Actors StudioWe might not get the Q&A with the actors that everyone got with the LA premiere but there is at least a little treat for the rest of the audiences in US showings of the Heaven’s Feel movie.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

The Line-Up is a monthly rundown of new anime, manga, novel, and artbook licenses for the U.S. It also lists new streaming/broadcasting announcements and posted crowdfunding projects available to U.S. residents. And finally, it includes anime/manga projects and live-action anime/manga adaptation announcements from Japan.

Origin of the KingkillerWe now have an plot summary for the Showtime adaptation of The Kingkiller Chronicle and it’s a prequel? I wonder if the are starting earlier in hopes that they won’t catch up to the books before the final one is released. I hope the show does well enough to continue on because it would be a bummer not to see Kvothe in this show.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

Prelude to a Free Nobunaga
They are releasing the Fate/GUDAGUDA comics in English. They are mostly doing this so the GUDAGUDA Honnouji Event can come out in English. Thanks to Metal Caveman for pointing this out.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

Since the first episode of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War just came out I just wanted to comment on this before I began the post properly. I think most people’s reaction to the show is the same, “Oh. So this is a Fate Holy Grail War with Chinese Zodiac warriors instead of characters from history. You even have a “you get a wish if you kill off everyone else premise.” If you know anything about Nisio Isin you know that he loves to take a popular genre and twist and subvert the general premise. This leads to his work having a very polarizing effect. More than anything else this is interesting because it means that the magical Battle Royale concept has become popular enough that Nisio Isin felt obligated to make it the focus of his next title. I’m guessing his target was the Battle Royale idea in general but I think it says volumes that he set up his story in an extremely Fate like fashion.

If anything it feels like a sign that Type-Moon has finally made it. (That and all the department store tie-ins for the Heaven’s Feel movies.)

Shiro revealing himself as Amakusa Shiro Tokisada and a Ruler Class Servant changes the entire dynamic of the Great Holy Grail War as the battle between Black and Red quickly breaks down. After some major defections, it seems that the conflict has become Servants loyal to Shiro and his subversive plans and Servants who have sided with Jeanne trying to restore order.

Thank goodness. We are finally free of Celenike. Her whole purpose seemed to be a sadistic creeper that made all of the problematic parts of Astolfo even more uncomfortable. It only makes sense she goes out like a champion class yandere as it was pretty much the only way she could leave the stage. But before then she has to get a final bit of sadistic stalker nonsense out-of-the-way just in case you might have accidentally been sympathetic to her passing. Also if you maybe thought Gordes was hands down the worst Master in the series they make a good case that there is at least someone who can give him a run for his money.

Shiro finally lays out his master plan. Or at least the general gist of it. He is one of those villains who has an admirable goal despite their fiendish actions. He wants to save humanity. But Kiritsugu in Fate/Zero proved a grand but nebulous wish like ending conflict can have a wide variety of interpretations. This also means there are a tremendous number of Monkey’s Paw ways to give people what they want in the worst way possible. It is the classic dilemma anyone who has ever used a wish spell in D&D has learned. Also considering what Shiro has been like so far you get the impression that his interpretation of saving humanity might not in a fashion that most of humanity would have picked given the option. His historical death and experiences in the Third Holy Grail War probably push him towards the darker interpretation of this idea even without a sinister Greater Grail.

Also, it is fairly clear that Jeanne d’Arc is the character we are supposed to be rooting for. Now Jeanne is mainly opposing Shiro is because he is breaking all the rules of being a Ruler class Servant on top of the general rules of a Holy Grail War. There is an interesting story where Shiro’s goals are 100% percent on the up and up and he comes into conflict with Jeanne who is reluctantly enforcing the rules as is her nature. This would be a nuanced battle of two interpretations of good against each other. Fate/Apocrypha does not seem to be that sort of story. Shiro seems the sort of the to have the most assholish version of righteousness. This makes him a sympathetic villain but a villain none the less. It is much more of a good vs. evil hero story. There is nothing wrong with that. It just misses out having some of the complexity that drew some older fans to Fate/Zero who were otherwise unimpressed by Fate/Stay Night.

Mordred comes into this like a champ. You have the classic evil wizard compelling the companions to kill each other and then before the power of friendship and love can save the day Mordred just ends the whole conflict by cutting of Celenike’s head. This really makes the later team up of Mordred and the remaining Yggdmillennia faction Servants much easier. By the end of the episode I’m fairly certain Fiore would have accepted the help of anyone but an outwardly evil Servant and even then it might be a coin flip. This just helps the transition a little more. Sieg or Astolfo might have had more objections to teaming up with Mordred before this point but after this save only sheer stubbornness would prevent them from taking her hand. Caules still might have some resentment over the loss of Frankenstein’s monster but he can easily be shut down by the rest of the surviving Yggdmillennia mages.Gordes might object but no one cares what he has to say.

Also once again it just helps get rid of the annoying Celenike which is always appreciated.

I do have to wonder how many people are mad that Sieg basically goes from nothing more than a self-aware magical Duracell battery to an overpowered wunderkind by a series plot convinces and as opposed to being jealous that he becomes the Master of fan favorite Servant Astolfo. Sure it makes sense from a storytelling sense that a rescuer replays his debt by becoming a savior. On the other hand, since Sieg has been getting quite a few perks given to him on a silver platter this only adds insult to injury to anyone who already had an ax to grind with the character. It also adds a layer of potential romantic rivalry since Astolfo’s sexuality seems as flexible as a gold metal gymnast. I know the sillier side material has Jeanne targeting the pink Rider as her rival and I’m sure that joke comes from their interactions henceforth in regards to Sieg. It is moving Sieg into the realm of harem protagonist dude which does not help his case one bit.

There is another complicated standoff with Servants’ loyalty and principles being testing and several Servants defecting left and right. The Yggdmillennia faction was already in dire straights as it was. After Avicebron switches sides it seems that the Black faction is utterly toast. While Avicebron is hardly the most powerful Servant it seems like his defection along with Karna siding with Shiro the nail in the coffin of the Yggdmillennia clan. It is only Mordred’s entrance where she chucks up the deuces to Shiro that lets the Servants allied with Jeanne escape and have any sort of chance at victory.

It was interesting that Atalanta did not give a fudge about the revelation of the fate of the Red Masters. So far she is the most mysterious of the Servants. We don’t really have a good sense of why she is fighting and why she is so willing to go with the flow to get her wish from the grail. I’m guessing she wants to undo the events of her infamous footrace but so far that is just speculation. She will probably get a backstory info dump just before she dies but now her motivation seems murkier especially since she seems not to outwardly react to any of the events occurring before her.

I was expecting Achilles to switch sides at this point. He would probably be much more comfortable fighting alongside Chiron and he does not really seem to be down with Shiro but he stays with him at this point. Then again Shiro has his command seals and there is no one else he can easily make a contract with at this point. Also as a Ruler Shiro probably has Command Spells out the yin-yang. so he could easily just order back any Servants that tried to rebel. So he might make his move at some later point but for now, he is team Ruler Breaker.

This is another episode that seems insistent on proving that not making Mordred the main character was a colossal misstep. While Sieg and Jeanne get some chances to show off their noble characters and leadership abilities but all the memorable cool scenes revolve around Mordred. But maybe that is the point. You give the bland good guys scenes to Sieg, the noble leader roles to Jeanne, and the cool anti-hero scenes to Mordred. Sieg is Luke Skywalker, Jeanne is Princess Leia, and Mordred is Han Solo. With that dynamic, it makes a little more sense when you keep your cooler anti-hero out of the protagonist role but still make them prominent in the story.

Sieg little scene with the dying homunculus maid gives a little time to see the full price and rewards of his rebellion. His fellow homunculi are going to continue to die but at least how they have some hope of freedom and purpose thanks to him. Their lives still might be poor, nasty, brutish, and short but at least some of them have a reason to live even if only for a little while. He is now their savior for better and for worse.

Before this point, it would have been impossible for Sieg to negotiate with Darnic. He was able to escape before because Darnic did not want to waste resources fighting Jeanne but Sieg was not negotiating from a position of power. He was merely not seen as useful enough to get into a fight over. Fiore, on the other hand, is now the one in a position of weakness and therefore has to give into a lot of demands she would not have had to before everything went to hell. Now the Homunculi will go back to fighting for the Yggdmillennia but as free people and not slaves which is no small upgrade.

Also, it looks like Roche is not long for this world. He is going to take the bullet that was meant for Gordes. With Celenike dead I guess Gordes had a prove he was the worst in these last few scenes which makes him avoiding death even worse.

I definitely like this opening more than the first. I don’t think it is my favorite Type-Moon opening but it feels more like a very good second half opening whereas the first seemed like a mediocre second half opening. I will say some Servants like Mordred, Astolfo, and Jack got flashier scenes than less popular Servants but that is just the nature of the beast. I did notice of all the surviving Servants Avicebron did not appear at all which might be a big sign that he is not going to last long this season.

The new ending is equally solid. It has a fairly even tone with a mix of melancholy and hope. They go through all the remaining Servants while in the rain and then have Sieg be the spark that returns the blue skies. If anything it goes out of its way to show that Sieg is now the hero guy protagonist from here on out. It also feels a little more animated than the last opening even if it is mostly still shots.

I apologize for taking so long with this post. I think I burnt myself out a bit when catching up after Otakon and then rolling into NYCC. I will try to pace myself a little better and catch up especially since things are really heating up in the story. Wish me luck.

Filed under: Action, Anime, Fantasy, Favored Topics, Reviews, Type-Moon Tagged: Fate/Apocrypha]]>https://reversethieves.com/2017/10/20/fateapocrypha-13-everyone-is-switching-sides/feed/0reversethieveshisui_icon_4040_roundThe Reverse Thieves Summer 2017 Anime Awardshttps://reversethieves.com/2017/10/16/the-reverse-thieves-summer-2017-anime-awards/
https://reversethieves.com/2017/10/16/the-reverse-thieves-summer-2017-anime-awards/#respondMon, 16 Oct 2017 16:30:15 +0000http://reversethieves.com/?p=44924Continue reading The Reverse Thieves Summer 2017 Anime Awards]]>We’re highlighting each anime season with a mini-version of our end of the year awards. We hope this helps cap-off the season with a splash (and helps us remember all of the great things we watched by the time the end of the year rolls around). So without further ado, our picks for the best of summer 2017 . . .

Best of the Best

Tsuredure Children by Studio Gokumi I was delighted by the antics of this light-hearted romantic comedy which hopped around to multiple couples’ stories. Sweet and simple to outlandish and bizarre, every situation was unique, and each character brought their varied personalities to the table. I didn’t enjoy every pair’s dynamic, but the 15-minute format meant the series moved on quickly. I found myself really wanting more episodes of Tsuredure Children.

Restaurant to Another World by Silver Link Fantasy has always been a part of anime and manga. It is a genre that lends itself to comics and animation quite brilliantly. But the trend that has become super prevalent is the ordinary dork being transported to the video game fantasy world. Whenever something like that idea becomes over saturated in the market you will see titles that either try to subvert, invert, or upend the trend. I can’t say for sure that Restaurant to Another World is a response to this prevalence but it acts as a breath of fresh air either way. In this series the fantasy world inhabitants come to our world. But they don’t send their milquetoast losers to the modern world to find romance and adventure. (I may have inadvertently inspired a new light novel premise and for that I apologize.) They come for a more important reason: to eat delicious food. Brilliant!

Restaurant to Another World takes the somewhat placid concept of iyashikei food anime and adds the punch of the fantasy world to make it a little more vibrant. Watching a congenial chef cooking delicious meals that help people with their situation is great. Adding elves, dwarves, dragons, and lizard people makes it amazing. The fact that it is all food from the human world makes the food more relatable. You know how delicious a katsudon or a chocolate parfait is but the fun comes in seeing faeries react to crepes or a vegan elf sampling a tofu steak. Even ordinary food like cookies or potatoes can be shocking to the denizens of the other world thanks to modern ingredients and cooking techniques that the inhabitants of a European styled fantasy kingdom would not know of.

I also admire the care they take in world building. While they occasionally do some info dumps and expository moments, for the most part, they try to explore the world more through the context of the costumers which leads to a lot more passive dissemination of lore. It lets the food and characters take the center stage while letting the nerds like me still get esoterica we love. Sadly they have not touched on magical systems yet but that is what you save for the second season.

Also, I really like how the series connects together all of the cast members. They start by introducing a core set of customers that don’t really have major associations. Then they slowly add characters related to the originals while also creating or revealing ties between all of them. It both adds to the world building and enriches the characters at the same time while giving you information at a controlled pace. It is a smart way to teach the audience while being super entertaining.

It is fantasy fun and food. If you don’t see the appeal in that I’m not sure we can be friends. Just remember NEVER watch this show on an empty stomach.

Best Character

Mordred from Fate/Apocrypha Look. Aesthetically Mordred is just Artoria Pendragon with a ponytail who wears daisy dukes as casual clothing. But I picked her for more reasons than just her appearance. I’m not sure anyone believes that but I will try to make my case anyway. You can judge for yourself if I picked her for legitimate reasons or if I just have a horrible Saber basis. (It’s probably both but let’s do this thing anyway.)

If you did not know any better you might assume Mordred and her master Kairi Shishigou were the main characters of Fate/Apocrypha. For the first few episodes they get a good deal of development and cool moments. Sadly it turns out they are only secondary characters but it says a lot that Yuichiro Higashide used them to sell the series to readers of the original books and then brought out the real main characters. I know there are a bunch of people who are super sad they just did not keep the focus on these two.

Mordred is brash, cocky, flashy, and takes absolutely zero bullshit from anyone. She lives for herself and damn anyone who wants to get in the way of that. She could not be any more different from her more reserved and deliberate dear old dad if she tried. This also speaks volumes about her complex relationship with Artoria. At first, her contempt for the King and the Round Table is palpable. As time goes on her far more complex feelings towards her parent becomes much more apparent. Mordred has equal measures of respect and affection for Artoria as much as her darker and more easily seen resentment. It gives her a fascinating complexity that draws you into the character.

Mordred also has a great fighting style. Unlike the refined grace of her father and many of the other Servants in the Great Holy Grail War she has a far more down and dirty style. She does not have an air a gentle chivalry that is supported by quick and elegant swordsmanship like you normally see with Knight of the Round Table. She is a tavern brawler who uses power and aggression to overwhelm her opponents by any means necessary. She will throw a vulgar kick or a bit of well-timed sand in the eye to back up her powerful if somewhat unbalanced swings. She is using the armed version of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.

It is also worth noting her amour is damn cool. The way her helmet slides into the main body of her suit is a ticket into this spot all on its own.

Ririko Oribe from Sakura Quest Ririko is the most reluctant member of the group trying to revitalize her hometown. She is introverted and introspective, and an eccentric who loves the paranormal. Her relationship with Manoyama and her grandmother is complicated. She has never left Manoyama, but only because she just hasn’t found the strength to do it. Over the course of the series, Ririko not only starts to find that strength, but is also able to stop hating Manoyama and her place in it.

Best Finale

Sakura Quest by P.A. Works I wasn’t always pleased with how this series progressed, but the ending felt very right. Sakura Quest does in the end do an excellent job of not fixing all the problems and wrapping everything up with a bow. This is about a town in decline and the struggles of small town life, there is no 100% solutions to these problems. There are a lot of missteps along the way and plenty of misunderstandings each of which filter in to a surprisingly moving and heartfelt ending.

Ninja Girl & Samurai Master by TMS EntertainmentWith 52 episodes Ninja Girl & Samurai Master had become a staple of my weekly schedule. Each episode is short but rewarding so it was easy to keep up with. So I was a little saddened to see that after a year the series finally came to the point where there will not be a new episodes for a while. Since the manga is still on going and Nobunaga still has far to go with his journey to conquer the islands of Japan. Since so many more anime are able to take a break and still come back after a year or two it is easy to see Ninja Girl & Samurai Master getting a second season down the line. Since it is going out with hopes of sparking a follow-up it needs to end in a place where you feel an arc has ended while still begging for a followup.

With the warlord’s former alley Azai Nagamasa convincing Nobunaga’s beloved sister to stay with him it causes Nobunaga to fall into a deep depression. Despite being a bit of a space case Kichou is able to snap him back to his more confident self. It feels like a good character moment for Nobunaga while teasing the next big battle in history. You know there is much more story to go but it seems a strong place to take a break. I really look forward to seeing how they deal with the defeat and death of Nagamasa and how it effects the everyone in Nobunaga’s army. Also it will be great to see Chidori doing what she does best: being a ninja on the battlefield.

Most Delicious Food

Poodle-themed Chocolate Cake fromKirakira☆Precure A La Mode When Akira’s little sister visits the patisserie, she helps bake up a doggie chocolate cake! So basically it combines two of my favorite things.

Curry Bun from Restaurant to Another World The best food in Restaurant to Another World is not only sumptuous but it also ties into the story of the person eating it extremely well. It helps both halves of the show build on each other becoming greater than either part. One of the stories accomplishes this is the story about Kuro and the curry buns.

Kuro is a black dragon who becomes a waitress at the restaurant after falling in love with chicken curry. Being an immortal death dragon she is not one inclined to normal human interactions. As an example, when she starts working at the restaurant she constantly uses telepathy to communicate with everyone. Even in the magical world, this is considered an oddball and unnerving thing to do. But working at the restaurant eventually opens her up to new experiences which she learns from. When she tries the curry buns she finds a new way to enjoy her beloved curry. This also helps her learn about her coworkers and start talking to them vocally when appropriate.

Plus curry buns are super delicious so seeing them for a whole episode is wonderful torture.

Best Couple (Real or Imagined)

Takurou Sugawara and Chizuru Takano from Tsuredure Children Takano is a clueless, gloomy trumpeter and Sugawara is the upbeat soccer player who falls in love with her. Many of their conversations are dizzy with misinterpretation thanks to vague word choices. Sugawara tries valiantly to tell Tanako how he feels multiple times but she just doesn’t get it. However, all is not without hope as Tanako begins to open-up as the series goes on. These two were very simple and sweet.

Sarah Gold and Heinrich Seeleman from Restaurant to Another WorldSarah Gold and Heinrich Seeleman are two characters who would never normally interact in an intimate manner. They live extremely far from each other and have vastly different lives. Sarah Gold is an explorer who looks for treasure and mysteries hidden in the world and Heinrich Seeleman is the noble knight of a completely different kingdom. While Sarah’s profession might occasionally bring her into the same general area as Heinrich they probably would only interact in the most cursory of manners so they would almost certainly never get to know each other. But the Western Restaurant Nekoya gives them a chance to talk outside of the normal rules of society.

At first, like many of the patrons of the Nekoya, they get to know each other trying to sing the praises of the favorite menu item. While they start of fiercely arguing for their chosen dish they staring eating together more and more. By the end of the show, they are almost inseparable. They still insist on the superiority of their beloved vittles but they become constant dinner companions. I love to see those two kids get together due to their love of food despite the distance between them otherwise.

Best Ongoing Series

Magical Circle GURU-GURU by Production I.G This is the third time Magical Circle GURU-GURU has gotten a TV series. The show is a light-hearted and bubbly parody of Japanese Fantasy RPGs with a distinct focus on the stalwart Dragon Quest series. Nike and Kukuri’s bog standard template of a quest to stop the reawakened demon lord with an ancient all but forgotten magic gives them the perfect animation for a loving parody of the genre. It is a beloved classic that seems to get remade every decade thanks to having fun characters and solid timeless jokes.

The question for the average person who reads this blog would be “Should I watch this version or go back and check out an earlier version?” I would say there are some real merits to this new version.

Right off the bat the animation just looks newer while still retaining the original character designs. Since the overall design is rather simple there is nothing really lost. To older fans, the new animation is really neither a plus or a minus but it might help catch the attention of some more reluctant newer fans.

The real bonus is the “all killer, no filler” attitude. The original series was extremely dictated to bringing every page of the manga to life as well as adding filler material to give time for the ongoing manga to get ahead of them. While the series was fun it actually moved slower than its source material. This new version has all the benefits of hindsight. It streamlines much of the story while sticking fairly close to the original material. It can basically combine jokes to make them stronger, cut parts that dragged, and add some clever twists.

This 2017 version is basically the Dragon Ball Kai of Magical Circle GURU-GURU. That alone should be a super strong selling point. It takes a hysterical comedy and makes it even better. What more could you want?

Kirakira☆Precure A La Mode from Toei AnimationThe most delicious anime on television! We are getting towards the end and they haven’t started throwing super dumb villains at us which is a good sign. I’ve also been impressed that Cure Parfait hasn’t taken over the show.

Best Opening

Magical Circle GURU-GURU“Trip Trip Trip” by ORESAMA This series is a nostalgic 90s throwback and that extends to the opening. When I saw the first moments of it, I was heartily reminded of Slayers. The map leads you into the RPG world and then welcomed with bright colors and odd dancing. MCGG’s opening feels and sounds like the silly adventure it is.

Restaurant to Another World“One In A Billion” by Wake Up, May’n! A few seconds into the opening I instantly recognized May’n’s enchanting and distinctive singing voice. It told me one thing: Everything is going to be A-OK. The opening shows off a wonderful melding of the rich fantasy world filled with magic, monsters, and mysteries and the more mundane but delicious modern world filled steaks, pork cutlets, and desserts. The opening makes sure to have distinct scenes where each world gets to show off its unique splendor while having some key scenes where the worlds meet to emphasize the series’ greatest strength. One in a Billion also just works great as an opening. It has a great upbeat vibe mixed with some splendor to inform you this is a more energetic show than your standard healing food series. It whets your appetite for both the show and a good meal.

Best Ending

My Hero Academia “Datte Atashi no Hero” by LiSA Often times I praise openings and closings that capture the mood of their shows succinctly. But you can do more with this space than just being a thematic summary of the show. Especially with the ending of a long-running shonen show, you can use the space to do some fun experiments that are still true to the spirit of the show but go in some interesting directions. This ending of My Hero Academia imagines all of the main cast as fantasy heroes on a grand adventure. It really fun to see Midoriya as the standard young man called away from his humble village by destiny, Iida as the proper white knight, Uraraka as a kindly mage, and Todoroki as an aloof noble. Of course, Bakugou is an annoying barbarian probably played by a min-maxing munchkin. It still feels like a superhero story it is just in a world of wizards and warriors. It a great little departure from the norm that still feels resonate with its source.

Plus just being and ending it is almost impossible to wear out its welcome. It is just lots of fun. Maybe next time they can be pulp sci-fi heroes.

What’s Your Rey’s Parents Theory?Some really good ones here that I hadn’t considered. I really like the Qui-Gon as grandfather angle. I’m still hoping Rey is Obi-Wan’s grandchild but maybe she is also Luke’s child???